… The Camerata was started interestingly enough as a “reach out” educational venture at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston in 1954. It was founded by Narcissa Williamson, a woman who was working in the education department at the MFA …

Chansons from the French Renaissance

“The 16th-century Parisian chanson is a genre of secular song that departs from past fixed forms. Evocative imagery, rich emotion, and vivid scenes are commonly found within chanson texts, and the music itself often highlights nuances of the French language. Among others, compositions by Sandrin, Claudin de Sermisy and Clement Janequin are emblematic of the style. Each demonstrates different descriptive and lyrical characteristics. …

“Dutch harpsichordist, fortepianist and conductor Jacques Ogg visited Bloomington, Indiana in January and joined me [Wendy Gillespie] for a conversation about his role as artistic director for Lyra Baroque Orchestra (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN) and his experience of being a student of the late Gustav Leonhardt.

Jacques also shares his thoughts about early keyboards and points out some of his more “interesting” recordings. …“

“ABS Music Director (Jeffrey Thomas) led a discussion about Bach's Mass in B Minor prior to the recent performance of that work by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Ton Koopman. The concert took place in UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, under the auspices of Cal Performances.“

Monday mornings, France Musique starts the week off with “Matin des musiciens” with interviews of all genres. Along with the participation of Edouard Fouré Caul-Futy, the ensemble Scherzi Musicali, is interviewed on the details and influences of Domenico Mazzocchi(1592-1665) vocal compositions.

“Biscuits & Bach is a four-hour program hosted by Rachel Stewart and featuring music from the Renaissance to the Baroque and beyond. Rachel welcomes the occasional guest and shares a recipe or two. It's food for the soul and soul food on a Sunday morning.“

“The harpsichordist Kenneth Weiss's appearances on the popular French radio station 'France Inter' on Saturday 22 & Saturday 29 October from 4 to 5 pm in the 'C'est du classique mais c'est pas grave' programme ('It's classical music but don't worry') presented by Sylvie Chapelle under the title 'Le clavecin, ça me crispe' ('The harpsichord makes me tense') can be heard on the radio's website via the links below.”

Featuring a discussion about Martin Carthy may seem like a stretch for devotees of early music, since his style is generally considered to fall into the category of ‘folk’ rather than ‘art’ music. But we attempt to keep our eyes and ears open to intelligent insights that filter into our collective consciousness from any quarter.

Winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson is regarded as one of the world's leading performers of the music of Frédéric Chopin. He is also noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire.

Change can be good. It certainly was for David Daniels. After studying at Cincinnati College's Cincinnati Conservatory of Music as a tenor, he switched to the highly unlikely vocal category of countertenor as a graduate student at the University of Michigan.